Keeping You Safe
by DeborahSulkin
Summary: After a warning from Archie, Danielle ends up in hospital and the one woman she wants there is at her side. One Shot.


**Keeping You Safe -**

**An Eastenders Fan fiction -**

**Written By: AutumnMalarkey**

Her blue eyes looked towards the gravel on the ground, her head following suit as she saw the older woman she knew as Mum but was Ronnie to others.

"Danielle." It was too late, she had been caught out.

Trying her best, she carried on walking, not acknowledging Ronnie, but, instead of breezing past the woman, one collided into the other, and Danielle ended up getting knocked off her feet and falling to the ground. Her ankle scraped on the floor, scratching it and cutting in places. She groaned with the slight pain, and accepted Ronnie's help up, trying to hide the look of pain on her face.

"Sorry." Ronnie apologised for knocking her over, biting her lip at the awkwardness of the whole situation. "How are you?" _Since when did she care?_ Danielle thought. "Did you…?" Her eyes fell down to Danielle's stomach and now she remembered why she cared; the baby. Her grandchild, not that she knew that of course. The very baby she had taken her to abort two days ago.

"Yeah." She did not meet her mother's eyes, fearing for her to realise she was lying, which seemed stupid now considering Ronnie would not be able to tell if she was telling the truth or lying. But nether the less, she was lying. Ronnie took her, two days ago, to get rid of her child, and there and then, she had taken the first pill. Yesterday, she was supposed to take the second pill, but alone, she backed out. She could not take it. She did not want to be like her own mother, regretting the decisions she made. Ronnie believed she had gone with Stacey to take the second pill, Stacey thought she was with Ronnie. It was fool proof considering neither actually talked to each other. Even though her baby was safe inside her stomach, the memory of her trying to get rid of t was too powerful and her eyes watered up.

"It'll be okay, Dan." She took a deep breath, "look, why don't you come and work R&R tonight? Take your mind off of things… That's if you are feeling okay." Ronnie had just remembered what the second pill did. It gave her contractions. Any that could have started in thirty minutes to two days. Maybe Danielle was not quite over it yet. But apparently she was, as she gave a small, meek nod. "Alright, see you at seven." Ronnie walked away and Danielle stayed in the same place, her eyes looking down to her ankle. She looked relieved seeing it was only slightly grazed, and carried on heading towards the Slater's.

"That, was your Granny." She talked to her still flat stomach, one of her hands protectively resting on the surface.

The next thing she knew, he hand was being yanked away and she was being forcefully pulled into an alley way. But she knew not to scream, not until she knew who it was. Grimacing in pain, as her shoulder blades were forced against the brick wall, she looked into the eyes of her 'kidnapper' and saw she was right not to scream.

"You stupid, pathetic little girl." His words hit her like venom. "I told you not to talk to her. She doesn't want to know you. She wishes you were dead!" Her eyes filled up with tears so much that her vision was blurry and the man standing in front of her looked like a watery blob. "I am giving you a chance here, Danielle. Take that disgusting baby and leave Walford…"

"And if I don't?" _Stupid question, Dani! _

"Wait and see." She was forced further into the wall. He then walked away, and she sunk to the floor. Her legs underneath her.

Danielle was unsure what was going to happen. Was it worth finding out? She had to decide now. Her mother, Ronnie. She had already spent the past few months trying to tell her. Then _he_ happened. If it was not for Archie, she might have told her. Did her mother really not want her? She could not be too sure. Ronnie was famous for the Ice Queen act she put on… maybe it was an act. She was pretending not to want her. But on the other hand, she might not actually have wanted her. She could never be sure. That moment her mind was made up, she had to know if she was wanted, and nothing Archie could do was worth not finding that out. She got herself up off of the floor and went back to the Slater's, bracing herself for tonight.

She arrived at the club earlier than planned, and stood leaning against the bar, her heart beating so fast she thought it would actually come out of her chest. _Maybe this is a bad idea._ She took a very shaky breath, but her mind could not change now as she saw the familiar woman sit in front of her…

"If you're not up to working, you don't have to, you know." Her eyes refused to meet Ronnie's as she shook her head.

"No, I'm fine." The talk was cut short with the arrival of Jack and the other bar tenders.

The bar was in full swing, music blasting, voices raising loud over the volume and everything was getting slightly heated. Danielle raced around the room to try and keep up with all of the glasses that were getting left on the tables every few minutes and she was becoming increasingly exhausted. She just wanted to get home in an hour or so, just after closing time, but she knew that might not be possible.

"Excuse me." She said, cutting in between of two men she had never actually saw at the club before. To be honest, she had never saw them in the square either. She put the carrier on the bar side and picked up the empty glasses, putting them into the stacks and reaching back over to pick the carrier up, but she was stopped.

"For God's sake, no they wouldn't!" She head raised voices from the two unknown men, that, only seconds ago, were seeming extremely palsy.

"They would!" The other man's words were slurred, but Danielle thought they were different from every other common drunk in this place, they were more forced, fake even. She realised now that she had to get out of that situation. Danielle did not even bother to pick the carrier back up, just trying her best to back away from it.

"Excuse me, love, tell him, please, he's not got a shot with you, 'as he?" The other man was not even making the effort to try and be drunk.

"Er…" She froze.

"See, no, you haven't even got a shot!" He wound him up and the next thing Danielle remembered was the punch thrown from the 'drunk' man to the other, she could not move, not knowing what to do as both of them began fighting. The next thing she knew, pain was whirling through her body as she was knocked out of the way, practically spun on the spot and thrust into the side of the bar. She lingered there, not moving for fear of more pain.

Behind her, Jack was pulling apart the two men and was throwing them out of the club doors. Everything seemed to go in slow motion around her as she heard Jack clearing the club out, the music stop and she heard Dawn asking if she was okay. Two hands were felt on her shoulders and she felt herself being pulled away from the bar and being taken back into the office, and she could tell it was by that one woman she really did not want to see. She was guided over to the sofa and Ronnie helped her sit down and sat down next to her.

"Danielle? Are you okay?" _Stupid question._ Danielle tried her best to grit her teeth together and sit up as straight as she could with a deep breath.

"Yeah, I'm fine, sorry." She stood from the couch, ignoring the protests in her stomach and ribs and walking out of the office, storming out of the back way to avoid Jack.

Ronnie went to follow her, but was stopped at the doorway by Jack.

"Leave her, Ron. She will be fine." He said and Ronnie gave a nod.

"How is everything outside?" She asked and Jack moved away from the door.

"Take a look yourself." As she left the office she saw a blood spot or two on the floor from the punches. The carrier of glasses was broken and all of the glass shards lay on the floor around it, and the club looked like it was in absolute turmoil.

"Great." She mumbled and began to clean up with Jack.

Around the back of the club, Danielle found a light that lit up the bins and the alley way slightly. She stopped and leaned heavily against the wall. Her hands raising her top slightly to see the damage. Her ribs looked to be bruised but she could not see any damage on her stomach, not that that meant there was not any. She groaned slightly, letting the top fall back down. Her back was still on the wall and it seemed like it refused to move. A moment later and she was still against the wall, seemingly stuck there. She tried to take a deep breath but only a small amount of air would fill her lungs as her ribs killed her. She refrained from breathing in any deeper, just taking a few short, quick breaths. She then stopped. A pain rising in her stomach, making her want to cry out in pain… but it never happened. As the pain hit her body, she could not scream or cry out; in too much pain. She knew this was not a good sign. Never a good sign… The baby. Her hand fumbled in her pocket, struggling but finally finding her locket, she brought her hand out, clutching it to her heart.

"Jack…" She tried to call out, nothing happened. "Ronnie…" She tried another name, but that too gave no result. "Mum?" A tear dripped down her face as she tried to take a breath to try and call again. Nothing worked. Her eyes fell and she passed out.

Ronnie had finally finished gathering bits of glass off of the floor and she was disposing collecting the rest of the rubbish from all of the bins. Walking to the back door she balanced the rubbish as she opened the door, and when it was finally open, she quickly, and loudly, threw it all in the bin. Upon turning around to go back inside her body froze; she had no idea of what to do. There, helpless, and seemingly lifeless, lay Danielle. Ronnie crouched down to her side and shook her.

"Danielle, Danielle, sweetie, wake up." She tried again and again, but knew it was no use. She realised that Danielle had left almost forty five minutes ago, and cursed for not finding her sooner. "Jack!" She screamed, and within seconds he was out at the back door.

"Oh my God." He bent down to her side and tried the same as Ronnie had. "Danielle, wake up." He tried again and again while getting his phone from his pocket, dialling an ambulance.

Guilt grew inside of Ronnie, knowing it was all her fault; if it was not for her, Danielle would not have even been in work that night. She held her lifeless body, and tried to clutch onto her hand, but stopped the effort feeling something in Danielle's hand. As she moved away to see what it was, she realised something that she knew she should have noticed before… The locket. Identical to her's. One difference, the picture… It was her. That was her Amy. Danielle was her Amy. Then it all dawned, everything being far too close for comfort as all the memories of the past few months came before her. She was absolutely horrible to Danielle! All of the things she had said to her about not wanting her Amy… Danielle must have been heart broken, felt like she was not wanted, not loved. Then the biggest thing came to her. The baby. Danielle's baby. Her grandchild. She took her to the clinic. She held her hand. She pressured her into getting rid of her own grandchild. Her own flesh and blood. It was all too much as she felt dizzy, sick to her stomach as she let Danielle lay back down on the floor again, she stood up with speed, the locket firmly in her hand. Bile rose in her throat and all she could do was throw up into the bin. Jack fumbled while talking to the ambulance person on the end of the phone, feeling around for a pulse and thankfully finding an extremely weak one. She was alive… for now. He knew he had to try and save the girl, but all he could do was wait for the paramedics to arrive, so all he did was go to Ronnie's side and let her cry into him.

"She… She's my Amy!" He was shocked at first, then it dawned on him to. "I've been so horrible to her Jack, I took her to abort my own grandchild! I told her I never wanted her!" She sobbed harder. "I can't do it, Jack, they can't be the last things I say to her, I need her to know I am her mum, I love her. I want her. I wanted her more than she will ever know!" Jack held her close and kissed her hair.

"Sshh, it's alright, Ron, she will know that, she will, everything is going to be fine." And as if on cue, the ambulance's noise was heard, then lights were seen and they got to the alley way.

The two hour and a half wait at the hospital were extremely painful for Ronnie; never knowing if she would see her Amy again… Danielle's locket was clutched in her hand and her hand was pressed to her chest. Her head rested against Jack's shoulder in exhaustion both physically and emotionally. Much to her dismay, her eyes began to drop and she began to sleep. She dreamt of Danielle, of having an amazing relationship with her daughter, granddaughter, Jack. She wondered why the hell she was dreaming of Jack, but she was. She loved him. She loved him more than she could imagine. But it was wrong. What about their future kids? Would they be Amy's cousin? Brother or sister? Everything was complicated, especially the issue of him having slept with Roxy. They still have not patched that up. Her mind wondered again, to the perfect universe. No Archie, just her, Jack, Danielle, Roxy and Amy - who happened to be Sean's daughter in this world. Everything was just how she wanted it. Her sanctuary.

She felt the dream being pulled away from her, as she woke to Jack shaking her shoulder. A doctor stood over the pair of them.

"I believe you are Danielle's…" He looked through some papers.

"Mum." He nodded and stopped looking

"Alright. Danielle seemed to have an accident, which Mr Branning filled me in on, but the accident seemed to have triggered a miscarriage for Danielle. That with a broken rib cause her to pass out with the pain." Ronnie paused for a moment… miscarriage? She thought Danielle had aborted the baby.

"But, she wasn't pregnant." She finally said.

"It seems that she was. We did trace her medical records and it seems that Danielle went for an abortion a couple of days ago." Ronnie nodded, "But she never showed up for the second pill, so the pregnancy continued…" Her eyes fell to her lap.

"Is she okay?" The words were full of hope.

"She will be fine. I will take you to see her, but remember she is asleep at the minute and even if she does wake up, she probably will not remember or say much due to the medication." Ronnie responded by standing up and Jack trying to follow her, she turned around and stopped him.

"No, Jack, I can't do this." She told him.

"Do what?" His eyebrows creased in confusion.

"Play happy families with you and Danielle. I can't do any of it. Thank you for helping her, but I need to work on everything with Danielle now, not with you." Immediately he understood.

"Alright then, whenever you are ready." She gave a nod.

"But could you do me a favour?" If they were not at the hospital and the scene of events had not happened, Jack would have thought she was taking advantage of him, but not tonight. He wanted to be there for her. As little or as much as she would let him be.

"Sure."

"Can you tell Stacey? She'll be wondering where Danielle is, and I don't think I can face telling her." He gave a nod.

"Of course." His hand rested on her shoulder, and he mouthed her 'good luck' before waiting as the doctor lead her away. Once the doors shut behind them, he got his phone and left the hospital to call Stacey and go home.

The hallway got more distant from her as she walked towards the room, getting longer and longer the further she walked down, and her mind went crazy. Her heart thumped extremely fast. Could she really do this? There was no turning back as she entered the hospital room. There, in the bed lay a small, fragile Danielle. Her Amy. The bed looked like it was massive, but Ronnie knew how small it actually was, but compared to how tiny Danielle was when in the bed, it looked like a castle. The white sheets were barely a shade whiter than her daughter, Danielle only being a shade darker. She looked ill. Deathly ill. Her breathing seemed shallow and short, but at least it was there. The left hand was resting on her stomach, a needle in the back which lead to her drip. Ronnie gulped slightly and sat at the bedside chair. Her hand held onto Danielle's right one as she used her other hand to put the locket on top of her stomach under her left hand.

"Hey baby, it's Ronnie… mum, here." She tried to talk to her, using any language to tempt her out of her drug induced coma, but nothing was happening. "Danielle, I am so sorry, I really am. I am sorry I pushed you out, sorry I tried to say I never wanted you. I always wanted you. I never forgot about you. How could I? You're my Amy." A tear slid down her face and she wiped it away.

"Ronnie?" A weak voice came and her eyes shot down to see Danielle's eyes barely open.

"I'm here, baby. I'm here." She moved some hair out of Danielle's face to get better access to look at her newly found daughter. But she felt Danielle let go of her hand and shuffle, with all of her might, away from her.

"Don't." She tried her best to breathe, "Don't… call… me… baby." She looked at her with her half shut eyes with hatred. "Get away… from me." She tried to tell her, Ronnie was unmoving, not sure what to do, but her struggle was cut by a groan from Danielle and then her eyes softly shutting as she drifted back off into sleep.

Ronnie was not sure how long she had sat on the hospital chair, holding Danielle's hand before she had fallen asleep, she was also unsure as to why she had woken up, but it became clear as she saw Stacey standing in the doorway of the room.

"What are you doing here?" Her voice was lined with hatred.

"I am looking after Danielle, which is a hell of a lot more than what you have done!" She let go of her hand and stood up from the chair.

"Yeah, the only looking after her you have ever done is help her get an abortion! You murderer!" Stacey reached out and slapped Ronnie, who stood looking stunned.

"She never even took the second pill, which I thought _you _were going with her to take!" She now shouted back, her hand stuck to the patch of her cheek that stung.

"_I _was not meant to take her anywhere!" She shouted back.

"I know that now!" Ronnie restrained herself to stop her from slapping Stacey back, she was the bigger person in all of this.

"Just do one, eh? I do not want you here and _she_ for one definitely does not want you here!" Through all of the shouting, both women shut up hearing a meek voice.

"Mum?" They both turned to look and see Danielle trying to open her eyes. Ronnie raced to her side.

"I'm here, sweetie, I'm here." Her hand held onto Ronnie's like it was going to disappear if she ever let go.

"Don't leave me." She almost begged.

"I am not leaving you, I will never leave you. Everything is going to be okay, just you and me." Stacey watched in shock and immediately knew she had been pushed out of her best friends life, the second she had finally found her mother. Her legs backed away and she left the room in silence, not wanting to create another scene.

"Stay." Was all Danielle said again as she fell back into a sleep.

"I will, don't you worry." It was in that moment that she knew she would need to call in another favour from the one and only man that would be willing to do it. Her phone was slid out of her pocket and she gave no care towards using it in the hospital as she pressed the buttons sending a text. The reply came only a few seconds later and a smile came onto her face as she felt herself fall back into another sleep, Danielle happily at her side.

Waking up to the sound of the hospital door opening her body spun around to look at the intruder and straight away she felt relief as she saw Jack with two bags in his hands. Her body spun back to the way it was naturally meant to be and her eyes took in the look of outside through the window. Sun, that meant it was daytime. She must have slept a good hour or two.

"I brought you the clothes and that. And I finally got Stacey to give me some of Danielle's. She's a stubborn kid sometimes though." He gave a huff and Ronnie nodded and tilted her head to show him her reddened cheek.

"You can say that again." She rolled her eyes.

"She, did that, to you?" He looked shocked.

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter. We were angry, it's all sorted now I think. I hope anyway." She gave an uncomfortable laugh, he replied with a small smile.

"Well, I brought all of your clothes and I got some for her to get changed into, how is she doing?" He asked and placed the bags down, thankful that Ronnie had finally let him in.

"They say she is fine, she's been in and out with the medication, one time telling me to get lost, the other telling me to stay." She gave a shrug and her exhausted eyes fell back onto Danielle's small body where her hand still held onto her's.

"You really need to go home and get some sleep." He told her.

"I can't. She told me to stay. I don't want to leave her. I am going to stay until she tells me I can go, and even then, I will stay right by her side." Jack gave a saddened sigh.

"Ronnie, I know how you feel, but she is your daughter, she isn't just going to disappear. Everything is going to be fine if you left for an hour or two to sleep." She shook her head.

"Fine then, sleep here." His shoulders shrugged.

"I don't want to sleep!" She shouted, but then her voice quietened. "Sorry, I just, I keep falling asleep, but I need to stay awake… what if… what if he comes here?" It was almost a whisper and Jack saw how vulnerable she was and was crouching at the side of the chair at once. His hand moved some hair out of her face.

"Who, Ron?" He looked into her eyes to see the fear hidden deep within them.

"Dad." Was all she said.

"Archie? What about him? Why would he be here?" He tried to keep calm, but the fear now on Ronnie's face was sending him into a protective panic.

"He told me she was dead, my Amy was dead. He lied to me. He knew she was alive! He knew she was here!" He stood up, seeing her state and wrapped her in a hug.

"You can't know that, Ronnie. Alright, just give it some time and then when you get back find and talk to him. I am sure he has his reasons." She nodded into his chest. "Now, you stay here and sleep, I am going to sit on that chair across the room and I will keep an eye on everything. No one will come in or out without me knowing, alright?" She looked up to meet his eyes.

"Thank you, Jack." He kissed her forehead.

"No problem." Releasing the hug he let her settle in the chair and within a minute or two, she was asleep before he went over to the other chair and got out his phone, figuring he could busy himself doing something on that stupid internet package he had.

Throughout the time she was asleep, Jack had been watching the both of them, and Ronnie's hand had never once left Danielle's. He also saw the shallow, breaths Danielle had been taking and knew it would be extremely painful for her. A while into her sleep, the doctor entered the room, and Jack felt himself automatically make the doctor be quiet. A nod from the man and he went about reading things, taking notes and messing with her drip before Jack watched him turn the tap on the end of the drip and take it off of her, the needles end was blocked quickly and he took the drip out of the room. Jack now figured that it would be an hour or two before Danielle woke up, asking questions and he gave a small groan, knowing Ronnie needed more sleep. But soon enough she would get it. A smile played on his lips as he saw how protective Ronnie was being over her newly found daughter and he felt happy for her, knowing how long she had missed her daughter for. Now she was here, in her grasp and he knew Ronnie would not let her go without a fight. Letting them sleep some more, he turned his attention back to his phone screen, playing some game that he had no idea about; he had been paying no attention what so ever, and even as he was playing it right now, his eyes always drifted back to the two blondes facing him and he realised now how much alike they looked. Mentally, he smacked himself for not realising anything sooner.

The deeper and deeper Ronnie fell into her sleep, he felt himself pulling away from the pair, and soon after he stopped looking up at them. Instead he was now focused one hundred percent on the game he was playing. It was something to do with getting an arrow around the ink splotches and was quite a pathetic game, but anyone with a steady hand could probably play it. A soft groan was heard and he looked to the door. No, a doctor or someone else was not entering the room. His eyes looked back to Ronnie and Danielle. His eyes on Ronnie, he waited a minute or two and saw no movement, he was still firmly asleep, that was when he stood up, as quietly as he could, and slid the phone back into his pocket. His eyes looked down to the fragile girl and took in her half sleeping half awake form as she tried to force her eyes to open even further.

"Sshh, Dan, just try and sleep." He hushed her, but sleep was far from her mind as her ribs aching was going to keep her wide awake, so, instead, she peeled her eyes open the rest of the way and went in some way to making an effort to sit up. Seeing her struggle with the pain made him want to help her even more, but he let her continue to try. "Dan, just stay lying down." He tried to tell her but her head quickly shook.

"What…" She realised she was being held down by another body, another blonde body. That same one that she knew as Mum.

"I will explain, but stay still, alright?" He waited for a nod, but knew she would agree anyway. "Ronnie went outside the club, you had passed out, I called an ambulance, apparently you had a miscarriage, and got a broken rib." That explained the pain alright.

"Why are you still here?" Her voice was barely a whisper; Danielle having figured out that it took less effort for her to speak quietly.

"Ronnie wants to know that you are okay." Explained Jack.

"Well I am." Her voice sounded cold, almost as cold as her mothers' voice.

"Just try and rest a bit more 'ey? You can do with the sleep, and your Mum looks like she can use it too." Her brain froze, her mind stopped, her breathing stopped. _mother?_ Her hand on her stomach felt the locket beneath her fingertips and understood what might have happened. Ronnie knew, she knew and she did not run. She stayed. She's holding her hand. "Breathe." She looked back to Jack and took another short breath. "Everything is going to be fine, I promise." She gave a nod, not believing him. The baby, her baby, was gone. She turned her head away from Jack, in Ronnie's direction and let the tears escape, making no other sign of crying or no noise because she was scared of what pain it might cause her. Danielle felt a tug on her other hand and looked to see Ronnie slowly waking up. As she sat up Danielle saw her smile grow seeing that she was awake.

"Hey, you're up." She announced and Danielle gave her a small nod but Ronnie's concern grew seeing the fresh tears. "What's wrong?" She asked and wiped away the tears but they were quickly replaced by fresh ones. Danielle shook her head to tell her there was nothing wrong. Jack stood uncomfortable at Danielle's side, and felt that this would be the time for him to leave.

"Sorry, I have got stuff to do at the club. I'll come back later." He gave Ronnie a small wink before giving Danielle a strong hand on the shoulder, which Ronnie noticed her wincing at.

"What's up with your shoulder?" Ronnie asked her, concern in her eyes.

"Why do you care all of a sudden?" it came out in a sad tone, yet she had intended it to be harsh, cutting, but her ribs would not let the words be like that.

"I am here to look after you, like I should have when you were little." She looked sad, heartbroken.

"But you haven't been there, you have missed twenty years! Everything that has happened, _every_ little thing and you were not there." Even though her voice did not show what she was trying to put it forward as, her eyes were full of emotion. Her best effort was to say 'every' in a harsh tone, and even then her body was thrown into a coughing fit. Not able to catch her breath with the pain. Swiftly, Ronnie took a cup off of the side table and got the straw in Danielle's mouth, allowing her to get a proper drink.

"Deep breaths." She coached her and helped her to fill her lungs as best as she could. Once Danielle had calmed down, she spoke again. "Well, then, tell me. Tell me about it all. Tell me everything. All that I missed, happy, sad. I want to know who you are and what has got you to this point."

Danielle saw the effort Ronnie was trying to make so she began at the beginning. Throughout the whole story she held onto Danielle's hand, trying to show she was there all of the way, throughout every year.

"And then I came to find you." She informed her. "I wanted to get to know you. To learn what you were like as a friend before I knew you as a mum… But Archie." Her voice went cold and the atmosphere in the room went dim. Danielle stopped talking, her eyes glazing over as if she was having a flashback, from the look on her face Ronnie knew it was not a good one. Ronnie wanted to pull her away, needed to pull her away, it was like she had been getting told a horror story. She had already listened to the series of happy childhood, now it was getting to the good part, and she needed to know what came next.

"Danielle, sweetie, Archie did what?" She shook Danielle and pulled her from her thoughts. Her head started shaking as she cried even more.

"I didn't want to believe him. I couldn't… but the things you said, I thought they were real." Wiping Danielle's eyes, Ronnie's own watered up.

"No, Danielle, I never meant any of it, I love you. I loved Amy. I don't regret a thing. I have never been happier than sitting here with you. now." She have her daughter a watery smile. "Now, did Archie now who you were?" She cut straight to the point." Danielle nodded.

"He told me you didn't care about me, said you were glad I was gone." Her eyes looked away from Ronnie, falling into her lap. Ronnie used her fingers to tilt Danielle's face up so she was looking at her.

"Danielle, I would never be happy you were gone, you are my little girl." Using her other hand to wipe her eyes, she nodded.

"I know, I know." Ronnie watched as Danielle tried her best to get out of her bed.

"Sweetheart, where are you going?" She stood up to either push Danielle back into bed or to help her up.

"I need to go to the toilet." She informed her, and Ronnie gave her a hand, helping her to stand up as she groaned with pain and clutched her ribs.

"All right?" She knew it was a stupid question and the lack of Danielle's answer proved how stupid it was. Her arm went around Danielle's body and she helped her over to the conjoined small bathroom. "Do you need a hand?" She bit her lip, helping her newly found daughter to the toilet was not on her agenda for the day. Ronnie stopped biting her lip as she shook her head. "Alright, just call I'm right here." Another nod and Danielle entered the bathroom. She stood at the door for the next couple of minutes until she heard the flush of the toilet chain and saw the door open. Automatically she went to her side and helped her over to her bed.

"I hate this stupid dress thing!" She exclaimed with a groan as she tried to walk further. "I should text Stacey and get her to bring me a pair of pyjamas." Ronnie stopped her.

"I made Jack bring you some. I figured you might want to get changed." Settling her on the end of the bed, Ronnie dug in the bag and found the pyjamas. "Here, need a hand?" Danielle wanted to say no, but she knew, especially with her ribs, she would need some help, so Ronnie helped her to stand and helped her to get changed.

As Danielle pulled the top down with all of her effort, Ronnie watched her from behind, speechless. Bruises were on each of her shoulder blades, no wonder she was in pain before. Carefully, she helped Danielle over to her bed and made sure she was comfortable before taking her seat at the side again. A deep breath filled her lungs and she thought the question through in her head before asking it.

"Danielle, your back, the bruises, how?" Was all she had actually compiled together. She saw Danielle gulp and take as deep a breath as she could.

"Archie." Was all she had to say. "He found out about the baby this morning, pushed me against the wall, warned me about telling you. Said he would make bad things happen." Fear was genuine in her eyes and voice, then it dawned on her. "The club, the boys, they weren't drunk, they were pretending. He set this up, he killed my baby!" She sobbed and Ronnie felt herself go over to the bed and sit next to her, enveloping her in a hug as she sobbed in her shoulder.

"It's all going to be fine." She rocked her slightly, as if she was a baby.

"He killed my baby!" She cried, and Ronnie kept rocking her until the sobs died down.

"You didn't abort it." Was all she said when she stopped crying, now lying next to her on the bed, Danielle still slightly in her arms. Their hands held onto each other's.

"No, I couldn't. I got there and I freaked out, I guessed I would tie up all my loose ends here and go." Ronnie nodded.

"Why didn't you?" She asked, not meaning to sound as if she was trying to push her out.

"You invited me over to the club. I felt that you wanted to make a go at things, I couldn't say no." Her eyes watered up again. "If I left, didn't go to the club, hadn't tried to make it again with you my baby would still be alive." She looked really upset.

"But you did go, and I'm here now, and you found me." Ronnie looked into her eyes and watched Danielle nod. "Look, when the time is right you will be a mom. I promise, but for now, I am here, and you're my little girl." She moved some hair from her face.

"I know."

Ronnie and Danielle lay in silence, Danielle's hair in between her two fingers as she curled it around her index finger in a calming way. They both lay there for a moment watching nothing, and Danielle soon found herself being pulled from the situation at hand and falling into as sleep. Not so long after Ronnie also was pulled, unwillingly, into the land of nod.

Jack opened the door that night and smiled at the two blondes on the bed, he could not help but to laugh slightly. He then looked around the room to see everything in its place and no one else in there before walking over to the heater and turning it on as the coldness was getting to him, and he knew both of them must be cold with the tiny blanket. He then sat down and watched both of them for a minute or two as they calmly slept, Ronnie's arm protectively over Danielle, keeping her safe. His attention then turned back to that awful game on his phone and he found himself able to focus on the game for once, or all least for ten minutes. Then, a moment later his attention was drew back to the pair as Danielle started mumbling some things.

"No, please, don't leave me, you can't, I've only just found you…" He knew she was having a nightmare about Ronnie and saw the other blonde softly begin to stare. "No, get of me, get of her! Leave us alone! You can't hurt me anymore, please, no." Her voice was full of fear and Ronnie began to shake her shoulder.

"Danielle, sweetheart, wake up, Danielle." She saw as Danielle's eyes opened in a stunned reaction. She did not move, lying still just looking up. "Are you okay?" She asked and now Danielle's eyes rolled over to look at her with a pathetic nod.

"You did not look too good." Now both of them noticed the presence in the room.

"I'm fine." Was all she said.

"Alright, you sleep." Ronnie did the rare thing of placing a kiss on her forehead, before getting up from the bed and looking at Jack. "Outside." She said and immediately Jack went outside the room with her.

"What's going on?" He asked when he saw the door had finally closed.

"Archie, apparently he did know about Danielle, he knew exactly who she was, he knew everything. He told her I didn't care, that if she told me it would tear us apart." Her eyes grew with water. "I can't believe he would do that!" Jack's arms went around her as he let her cry on his shoulder.

"It's alright, it's going to be fine." He said. _I am going to kill him._ He actually thought.

"I know…" She took a deep breath. "Don't worry, you go back home, I think I can watch her." She said.

"Are you sure?" Jack asked, moving the blonde locks out of his face.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow Jack." As he walked down the hallway, Ronnie felt her stomach grumble and knew Danielle would be hungry as well so she re-entered the hospital room to see Danielle now sitting up and looking rather awake. "Hey, I am getting kinda hungry so I'm going to go get some food, anything you want?" She asked and Danielle gave a thought before answering.

"Just some pasta please." Ronnie nodded, telling her she had listened to her answer before opening the door to leave again. "Mum?" She stopped Ronnie in her tracks and a smile grew on her face as she turned back around.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Can I have some orange juice as well?" Danielle gave her a big smile back as Ronnie nodded and left the door.

There she was, her daughter, her Amy. The one she had been waiting for.


End file.
